The following links were found as part of my research for the June 2016 column “When ugly is beautiful (to eat)” but were not included in the print edition’s Web Address Directory due to space limitations.

 The Packer -For fruits and vegetables ugly is the new pretty

Food Network  – The year of ugly fruits and vegetables

Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN – Food Waste Footprint

Huffington Post -Eat hideously ugly produce if you care about the planet –

US Department of Agriculture – Office of the Chief Economist – Food Waste Challenge

Hidden Harvest

Ample Harvest

End Food Waste Now

National Public Radio – To Tackle Food Waste, Big Grocery Chain Will Sell Produce Rejects

Food Shift -How Do We Make Sure Lumpy, Bumpy Produce Gets Its Chance to Shine?

Left Foot Forward -Supermarket cosmetic standards are wasting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of produce

Quartz – Americans are throwing away tons of “ugly food” each year, causing widespread food insecurity

Green Biz – It’s time for the food supply chain to get ugly

SF Chronicle -Businesses find new opportunity in food that once went to waste

WastED – From the site: “Our goal is to celebrate what chefs do every day on their menus (and peasant cooking has done for thousands of years): creating something delicious out of the ignored or un-coveted and inspiring new applications for the overlooked byproducts of our food system. “

I will be speaking at the Resource Recycling 2014 Conference during the MRF Technology, Trends and Tools session being held on September 17th from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Two other expert speakers on this panel, Eileen Berenyi (Governmental Advisory Associates) and J.D. Lindeberg (Resource Recycling Systems), will be discussing MRF facility design and equipment trends.  My topic will be on the results of a recent August 2014 survey on the use of Information-Driven Technologies (IDT) by public and private recycling organizations that I assisted Resource Recycling in developing.

To be brief, IDT refers to a wide range of tools and services that may be used as part of the operation of recycling collection or processing systems or in general support of a recycling program.  Some IDT examples can include Global Position Systems (GPS) for vehicle tracking, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for monitoring cart set outs and  utilization, On-Board Scaling systems for measuring collection weights, smartphone Apps or Web resources such as YouTube or Facebook.

I will be making a short presentation at the Resource Recycling Conference 2012 on some examples of information technologies that can be used by municipal recycling programs.

For additional information on some of the technologies mentioned by my presentation:

Getting Smart About Recycling – Recycling Online July 2010 (column about RFID technology – link to PDF coming soon)

Smartphones and Recycling – Part 1 – Recycling Online August 2012

Smartphones and Recycling – Part 2 – Recycling Online September 2012

This is a new blog that will be devoted to discussing a wide range of topics based on information that can be found on the Web with respect to (in no particular order of importance):

• Municipal recycling program development and improvement.
• Organic waste management
• Product Reuse and reuse strategies
• Waste reduction
• Zero waste policies, planning and programs
• Recycling Market Development
• Social Marketing to increase recycling and reuse
• Recycling and waste reduction education, outreach and incentives strategies
• Waste management and reduction legislation and policies
• New recycling technologies

Reader participation in the form of comments, questions, suggestions and pointers to new information sources are welcome and appreciated.

There is a lot about blogging that I am still learning so bear with me and check back regularly to see how it is evolving.